In the context of the changing security strategies and policies relating to the 'war on terror' (WoT), Christian Aid approached LSE Consulting to facilitate a study into the implications of these changes for its partners and beneficiary communities in eastern Africa. Drawing on the substantial knowledge base and expertise of LSE's interdisciplinary Centre for Civil Society, Christian Aid commissioned a review to identify key trends and impacts on aid and civil society, and humanitarian intervention; to assess the regional context; and to draw conclusions and recommendations on the importance of these trends for Christian Aid programming.
Approach and methodology
The project was comprised of two stages. The first stage, carried out in close consultation with a Christian Aid research director, and supported by a series of interviews with country experts, was a research and literature review examining the available documentation regarding the impact of WoT policies in Uganda, Sudan and Kenya. This country-specific review was in turn to form the basis for the project's second stage – the academic review and peer-review of the resulting analysis document and its arguments which had been subsequently drafted by a team at Christian Aid.
Solution and benefits
Extending the scope of a basic secondary literature review, our academic expert was able not only to highlight specific issues of particular relevance to the client regarding UK foreign policy relating to the WoT in Kenya, Uganda and Sudan, but was also able to explain the gaps and limitations to research in the literature available, where further thought and action would be required. Beyond this, the resulting document, which placed these country-specific studies in a global context, and its conclusions were benefited greatly from the authority of the valuable comments and recommendations of senior LSE academic faculty, working at the forefront of their field, before its eventual circulation to a wider audience.